I had a guest tell me, I drove from the Griffith Observatory to the Santa Monica pier and it took me an hour. I told him that hed been incredibly fortunate. how much social media use at work is too much? Anything else and Im moving or getting a new job. I live in Southern California in a large 5 bed, 2 bath house with a HUGE backyard, and our rent is only $2200 a month! Make sure you check the commute times for any potential employers. I believe it. People are busy going about their own lives no matter whether youre in South Central or Wilshire Blvd. When I accepted that job I was told I might be able to telecommute one or two days a week but the culture there really didnt seem open to my doing so. Original Poster, glad you are in a position where you can make that decision. It doesnt seem excessive compared to the commutes of others in my office. Ive always had a long commute, until moving a couple of years ago cut my commute down to 20 minutes and going remote a few months ago cut it down to nothing. Shorter commute, but when the traffic is bad, it stresses me out more. ), I can move back. As youre looking for your next job, maybe try putting the commute into Google or Bing Maps with your normal leaving or arrival times? Yeah, I think I would hate it a bit less if it was a quiet, chill train ride. Im with you. That does seem excessive, especially given the distance. Im from Sunnyvale and I go to college in Merced. Its also not healthy for ANYONE, even for those who supposedly dont mind it. Before I got my own place I was temporarily living with a friend in Long Beach and commuting to Van Nuys. Just because it is normal doesnt mean its sane. There are many freeways and roads between the two and Ive tried every single one, and never gotten home in less than two hours. Which is also within 30 miles of Bushwick. Oh, absolutely agreed re the class element. My longest since then was 45 minutes driving across town even during rush hour. They just need to step up their game on safety. This 30-year-old commutes 4 hours and 140 miles for work in San Francisco every day. I could walk from my place to work if I wanted, which is very convenient. Boston commutes are about 1 hour and many commute between Massachusetts and Providence up to an hour. LA traffic was nowhere as bad as the 401 in the Toronto area. Work until 5-6PM 30 miles is very far for LA commuters. My current commute is about an hour but most of it is by train. Would commuting to DC from Fredericksburg be doable if Would having the CompTIA trifecta and two years desktop Would this large litter box with a grate be suitable for Would having the better debt to income and an extra 500 a What do your partners family do that they think is normal What was the dumbest rule your school thought up? Exactly. I assume the writer lives in the valley and works on the ocean side which means theres only one way through the mountains the 405, aka the busiest highway in the country. They moved the office 25 miles out of town, got a pic of my coworker who chose to stay home with the kids. It depends on where you start and where you end up but I am not surprised. I was stressed and tired and missed my family. Their schedule typically works like this: Some people have the stomach for long commutes and some dont. Theres a lot of data out there suggesting how bad commutes are for you in a lot of ways people dont typically think of. If Its an hour Id prefer to be walking or using public transit though hate being stuck in a car. Yeah once I had stopped an hour commute, I shudder thinking about ever having to do that again. That area is home to Highway 401, the busiest stretch of highway in North America and one of the busiest and widest in the world. I now live 9 miles from my work and my commute is 45 minutes. One hour one way (two hours both ways, on a good day) has taken its toll, and I cant imagine how bad it can feel if you are taking on a two hour commute. Totally fine. Im sorry! Born and raised in LA so sorry about the culture shock! Jk :) But seriously, Im glad it worked out for you. It was horrid, really horrid. Ill take my smaller midwestern city (metro population of about 2.5 million) where I can get to work in less than 30 minutes and I dont need to sell a vital organ so that I can afford to buy a house or rent a decent apartment. I cannot imagine having to actively drive for that entire time through jam-packed traffic! Its especially frustrating in a stick shift because your clutch foot gets so tired. I was a finalist for a job in the LA area a few years ago, and the advice I got from both friends as well as the internal recruiter was not to consider living anymore than 5mi from the office, unless I wanted to have a ridiculous commute. Im Bay Area and peninsula to city (or peninsula to SJC) is easily 1o miles and 90 minutes. Patch up the seats if necessary. Eh. I dont think L.A. is even 30 miles wide. This is one of those things that depends on you and your situation. Its baffling to me, even coming from Boston where 93 is notoriously slow. But 1.5-2 hours each way? I live in OC and my commute into downtown LA would take no more than an hour and a half (I did this for about a year not too long ago) so I dont know how you could live in LA and commute to LA and have it take 2. I hope you find the perfect combination. However if youre going to go down that route Id get something written into your contract specifying thats its 1 day per week. Now Im not signing up for a 2 hour drive anytime soon, but I need a solid 20 minutes between my work world and my real world. Ooooof. When were discussing whats typical or usual, one individuals experience is essentially meaningless. (Part of it was also the half mile between my apartment and the station and then the half mile between the station and my office.). I hated the long drives, but when you have 3 million people going to the same place at the same time, what else can you do ? For example, I live on the Westside. About 10 years ago, I lived in the Cleveland burbs and commuted about 1 hour to graduate school (which in that program was a full-time 5-day-a-week job). I used to drive for almost 2hrs to get to Uni some days and it honestly wasn't that bad. A couple of my team members fly in for half the week from LA or San Diego. It can be normal just off of congestion. I still have trouble with long drives because I find them exhausting, and its been 3.5 years. After 2 hours of bumper to bumper traffic, 45 minutes of highway speeds is amazing and were grateful. But Ive done the 1.5+ hour commute for years at a time. He is 3.5 years old and never has accidents on these days (although he is ready to go out as soon as I get home). East Coast here: I drive 24 miles each way in Fairfield Cty, CT during rush hour. By the time he left LA, he had only a 15-minute drive to work because hed arranged his life that way (so that his job and his apartment were close to each other). I do not feel safe taking Blue Line and neither does my husband who is a 6 ft big dude. I agree with Observer that normal does not equal ok. 100% that. Just dropping in here to say that 45 minutes is astonishing for when you were living in New York. Thats already happening. maddawwg2020 5 mo. They never listen. Hosted by people who live in SoCal. My commute is 20 minutes in the morning and 25-30 in the evenings. The #1 subreddit for Brits and non-Brits to ask questions about life and culture in the United Kingdom. Wicked smart, and saved a small fortune on rent! And I thought my one hour commute one way was bad (it can be 1.5 hours on a really bad day). My commute is 30-40 min but I can read on the train and transport is reliable and comfortable, if a bit crowded. I feel your pain. My husband is job hunting, and everything he sees is either in Orange County or on the West Side (were in the East Valley). But 2 hours? Thank you so much for posting my question, Alison. Take bus. It is working for us because most of the commute is on public transit. That is 48,000 miles on your car each year (just for work, closer to 52,000 all in). Were trying to move up our moving plans by several months because of this. While my to the office commute was short, I did travel alot and the drive to/from LAX was horrible. My current commute is now 15 minutes and my husbands is 5 minutes (he takes his bike instead of his car sometimes, weather permitting), and it really makes a difference in our quality of life. Even then, traffic here was pretty heavy. Anything more would made me very anxious. Of course, thats me living out in a rural area, heading into the state capital and downtown. It all depends on the roads. Unfortunately, for that area and the commute you are doing 1.5 is the norm. Plus, I live near a mall and practically next to a few grocery stores and gas stations, so traffic always sucks in the afternoons. Add message Save Share 2 on bad days. I grew up in the Inland Empire and for a while commuted to my job in South LA, ~40 miles. Its really relaxing and satisfying after a long day, but then again, Im a distance runner, and all of us distance runners are crazy. I would push hard for the flexible schedule idea. Is it an hour today? Thats WHY we have such horrible traffic! Good luck to you! With my next job, my commute was only 30 minutes on a highway with very little traffic, and it was SO much better. I do NE Glendale to Pasadena (which is counter to the majority of traffic) and its 10-20 minutes. To add another data point, I live in New England and drive from a small city in one state to a large city in another state. I did it myself for about 4 years I simply could not afford to live in or around the District so I lived 40 miles outside the city and, on a good day, I was facing a 1.5 hour commute. Hes not wrong though. I do 1:15 to 1:30 one way three times a week, and most people I know think thats pretty horrible. The traffic-related info and anecdotes in this thread make me wonder why any sane human would ever want to live there. If OP (or anyone else) doesnt feel comfortable taking it, its not really very cool to try and push her into doing it. He missed the birth of our baby. Like some of the others have said, distance and actual commute time are not necessarily correlated around here (Im in LA, but not in Los Angeles proper) so if having a more reasonable commute is a serious priority for you, do your best to check things out ahead of time. The worst days weve encountered in 8 months were 2 separate days where it took me two hours- and that was literally when a water main break (and a gas pipe leak) caused multiple freeway shut downs that made everyone get stuck. 118, 5, 170, 101 then streets (4 freeways? -Check accidents before you leave to go home. Yeah easily if only once a week. I didnt think anything could be worse than NYC traffic! I live six miles from my work, and it takes me fifty-five minutes by public transit (when its working on time, etc) and about an hour and fifteen by car. It beats everything but the three years I worked from home. Now I dont even use half of it (but my Wifi at home is bad and so I dont want to get rid of it). This thread has really brought home for me that nobody would live in this deranged city if it werent for the weather :D. And it contributes to the insane housing prices. I did not get the job. Theres no bus/transit that does a straight line between home and work, so I either have to take one bus into downtown then switch to another to get to Soma, or take a bus downtown then walk 20 minutes. The folks with less traffic during their commute hours consider 1.5 hours not bad. You dont have to accept it, though! Im originally from a town that had $600 2 bedroom townhouses just 2 years ago. One hour for me, but that includes dropping off a kid at school. I would say if you love your try, try to relocate. My 1.5-2 hour commute (each way) to drive a little over 10 miles was one of the reasons I had to leave that city. If I was taking public transport, I may find it easier because I could possibly be getting some work done on a train. Even so, my commute averages about 50 minutes each way. In the evening, it was generally 45 minutes to an hour and fifteen. When I had a job in the San Fernando Valley the commute was fine because the traffic went in the opposite direction. For us, itd would have been a lightly populated freeway with swift-moving cars. . Going there was pretty much OK since it was later in the morning. each way otherwise, it would be more than twice that, especially in the evening. I have been at my job longer, and have more flexibility, so I end up working 7.5 hour days when I go into the office 2 days a week (I have a 1-1.25 hour commute each way), and 9.5 hour days when I work from home. Though sometimes Ill just pick classics to feel well-read (even if Im pretty sure Im going to hate them) or popular books so that I can be a little more up on cultural references. . Can you carpool with anyone so that some days you can relax? . Im wary of any directions and side streets not given to me by locals. This is your "gross margin" time or "pre-time-tax margin." I recently watched a special on TV about super commuters defined as people who commute 90 minuets or more one way. On average each way is an hour due to congestion or accidents on I-95. Sometimes it was under two hours, and sometimes slightly over. I know people who do it but they all hate it. Its not unheard of, but its also not okay. Mmm, Ive been exposed to a fair amount of crime (professionally, not as a perp or victim, thankfully). If no seat, I switch to the express train and get to work roughly on time. I live/work in northern VA (just south of DC), and traffic is notoriously bad here, as well, though not as bad as in LA. Its not the neighborhoods so much that are the problem (youre not usually spending much time in those neighborhoods) but the people riding the train. I live in the OC near Chapman Uni and my office was in the Union Bank building on Figueroa Street and yes, 2 hours was totally normal. OP, two hours might be fine for some people and might not be unusual in your area, but if you are finding it frustrating then Id say go ahead and either move or look for work closer to home. If you find a job you really like, but with a long commute, then maybe your boyfriend should pick up and move to a new neighborhood with you. So, yeah, something can be typical for a region, but that doesnt mean you have to leave the region to get a better commute. I would also argue its merging/splitting of freeways that brings 8 lanes to 2 for a mile stretch, and the consequent lane changes that can cause accidents. You just have to sit on a train for 2 hours each day. Everything that came up was an hour, maybe an hour and 15 which would be tolerable for me. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. I just want to point out that normal doesnt mean anything if youre suffering so much. Theres been heavy suburbanization of poverty over the past 20 years, so were seeing more folks commuting from Modesto/Stockton/Antioch/Fairfield because of housing costs (rent is cheaper, which in the short run helps offset increased transit costs). Local transit (MUNI) is less reliable/more variable (although I loved being able to take AC Transits transbay busedbest commute, ever). I dont even care if its normal or not for the area, it feels awfully stressful and unhealthy. Unfortunately, if you want a shorter commute, you may have to move. I started sending applications out last week (of course leaving this job off) and already have a few bites, so Im hopeful. I can think of a few senior execs who might but they are not in the office 5 days per week; they are either on the road as part of their job (sales) or have worked out a WFH/remote schedule.
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